Chapter 635: The Inside Man
Chapter 635: The Inside Man
Gu Changhuai's mind was in a tangled mess, unable to make sense of the situation before him.
The waist token was indeed issued by the Daotingsi.
Mo Hua, bold as he may be, wouldn't dare to forge an official waist token, defying the authorities.
The bronze token indicated an unofficial status.
However, even an unofficial waist token was still affiliated with the Daotingsi and not something an ordinary cultivator could obtain easily.
"Where did you steal this token from?" Gu Changhuai asked, his face filled with suspicion.
Mo Hua frowned, annoyed. "Steal? This was given to me personally by the chief of the Daotingsi in Tongxian City!"
"Tongxian City?" Gu Changhuai recalled the small, remote second-rate immortal city where Mo Hua originated from.
"Are you related to the chief there?" Gu Changhuai furrowed his brows.
Mo Hua shook his head. "No."
"Did you marry into their family?"
"No!"
Gu Changhuai was perplexed. "Then why would he give you a bronze waist token?"
Mo Hua looked at Gu Changhuai, his expression clearly saying that he shouldn't suspect his honest intentions. "Of course, the chief saw my potential and gave me the token, allowing me to work for the Daotingsi..."
Mo Hua almost blurted out the words "to earn merit".
He mustn't mention "earning merit".
Otherwise, Uncle Gu would know that while he had the title, he was merely a small fry in the Daotingsi.
And in the future, Uncle Gu might even become his "superior".
In front of his potential superior, he needed to display an "eager and ambitious" attitude!
Mo Hua quickly changed his words, "to contribute to the Daotingsi, bring benefits to the cultivators of Tongxian City, and ensure the peace of the cultivation world!"
"Benefits?" Gu Changhuai shook his head. "What benefits can a young boy like you bring?"
"I've brought great benefits!" Mo Hua asserted confidently.
He had personally slain the great demon.
On the stele suppressing demons outside Tongxian City, his name was inscribed at the very top, in the largest characters, gilded with gold!
Mo Hua!
These two characters always caught his eye whenever he passed by, and he couldn't help but glance at them several times.
Gu Changhuai wore a look of disbelief.
Go ahead and boast...
Mo Hua didn't bother to explain. Anyway, even if he did, others wouldn't believe him, and he was already used to it.
"Regardless, the token is mine, and I'm technically half a member of the Daotingsi..." Mo Hua looked at Gu Changhuai, his large, clear eyes filled with sincere trust. "Uncle Gu, you're over a hundred years old. You can't go back on your word now!"
Gu Changhuai's brows remained knitted.
He had been too careless.
In his momentary impulsiveness, he had fallen into this young boy's trap, ensnared by his words.
Moreover, he never expected that a newly entered disciple in his teens, who had just joined Tai Xu Men, would secretly possess a bronze waist token of the Daotingsi...
This kid was as cunning as a fox and had many tricks up his sleeve. Next time they spoke, he would need to be more cautious and not leave any loopholes for the boy to exploit...
Gu Changhuai became highly vigilant, his attention fully focused.
After some thought, he tried to backtrack, "I only said I'd consider it, not that I agreed..."
"So, how is your consideration going?"
Gu Changhuai coughed, averted his gaze, picked up the wine pot, poured himself a cup, and took a casual sip before replying, "I'm busy at the moment and haven't had time to think it through. Let's discuss it another day..."
So, this was how adults "backed out" of their promises...
Mo Hua made a mental note.
In the future, if he ever needed to back out of a commitment or procrastinate, he would use this tactic.
Mo Hua nodded, "Alright then."
Gu Changhuai was taken aback. He hadn't expected Mo Hua to be so amenable all of a sudden and let the matter go so easily.
That didn't seem likely...
Gu Changhuai's heart tightened, and his gaze sharpened, "You won't go to my cousin or Yu'er and speak ill of me, will you?"
Mo Hua looked at Gu Changhuai thoughtfully for a moment before answering honestly, "Uncle Gu, there aren't many 'good things' I can say about you, are there?"
He had a bad temper.
He was a bit of a dandy.
When asked for help, he refused.
And now, he was going back on his word and trying to "back out" on their deal...
If Mo Hua wanted to say something nice about him in front of Wan'er and Yu'er, he really couldn't think of anything...
Gu Changhuai was stunned for a moment, then fell silent, his expression complicated.
What Mo Hua said seemed to be true...
"Right?" Mo Hua glanced at Gu Changhuai and sighed, "If you don't treat me better, how can I say anything good about you to Wan'er and Yu'er?"
"If I only know your bad points, then whatever I say will be bad, won't it?"
"That's not my fault..."
Mo Hua wore an expression that clearly said he was justified and helpless in the matter.
Gu Changhuai's eyelids twitched, but thinking of his cousin and Yu'er, he could only sigh in the end, "Fine, what do you want?"
Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "I want to capture Hu Fo Tu!"
Gu Changhuai still didn't understand, "Why are you, a newly entered disciple, picking a fight with Hu Fo Tu?"
Mo Hua replied seriously, "I'm petty and hold grudges. Hu Fo Tu wanted to kill me, so I don't want to let him off the hook either."
Gu Changhuai was stunned.
Petty and vengeful...
That was a bit too "honest".
However, the part about being petty was probably true...
Gu Changhuai's handsome eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Mo Hua, "And?"
"And what?"
"Your reason for wanting to capture Hu Fo Tu can't be that simple..." Gu Changhuai stated with certainty.
As expected of the chief of the Daotingsi, he was not easily fooled...
Mo Hua thought for a moment before continuing, "If I help you, no, if I help 'us', the Daotingsi, capture Hu Fo Tu, can I get some of the merit?"
"Are you that lacking in merit?" Gu Chang asked, puzzled.
"Can anyone have too much merit?" Mo Hua countered.
Gu Changhuai paused, then nodded in agreement.
Indeed.
For sect disciples, their cultivation resources, techniques, and all expenses, as well as their advancement within the sect's hierarchy, depended on merit.
"There's no merit to be had in the Hu Fo Tu matter." Gu Changhuai said, "This is a Daotingsi matter, and won't be assigned as a task by the sect."
After all, Hu Fo Tu was a wanted criminal for slaughtering an entire clan, his hands soaked with blood.
If a sect disciple took on the mission and rashly made a move, only to end up dying at Hu Fo Tu's hands, that would spell big trouble.
"If it doesn't count as sect merit, can it count as Daotingsi merit then?"
"As long as there's merit, I'm not picky..."
Mo Hua wore an expression that said he was an easy-going eater.
Gu Changhuai sighed.
"Alright then..."
He couldn't very well withhold the merit from the Daotingsi.
But seeing Mo Hua's happy face, Gu Changhuai felt something was amiss.
This kid, Mo Hua, was as cunning as a fox with his wits and schemes. There had to be another reason for his insistence.
Gu Changhuai quickly recalled everything about Mo Hua, and his heart skipped a beat as he exclaimed:
"You wouldn't be thinking of secretly learning Hu Fo Tu's Meteor Fire Technique, would you?!
Mo Hua remained calm and gave Gu Changhuai a silent glance, "Uncle Gu, do you think I can learn it?"
Gu Changhuai examined Mo Hua carefully and breathed a sigh of relief, gradually relaxing, "That's true, you wouldn't be able to learn it anyway..."
The Meteor Fire Technique was a forbidden art, extremely powerful and thus requiring an upper-grade spirit root and abundant spiritual power to cultivate and wield.
While Mo Hua was clever, his spiritual root and power were lacking, not even a tenth of his spiritual wit.
Even if he had the brains for it, he didn't have the talent.
Gu Changhuai pondered for a moment before agreeing.
"You can tag along with the Daotingsi and help capture Hu Fo Tu, but there will be three conditions..."
"Three conditions?"
"Yes." Gu Changhuai listed them one by one, "First, you must not neglect your cultivation in the sect, nor are you allowed to take leave. You can only help during your free time, and you must not leave the sect on weekdays."
"Second, you must not take action. Hu Fo Tu and his accomplices are at least at the mid-foundation establishment stage, which is beyond your ability to handle. You might be able to escape once or twice, but if you fail to escape even once, your life will be at stake..."
"If anything happens to you, I won't be able to explain it to your cousin, and Yu'er will definitely be heartbroken..."
"Third, if we go out to pursue Hu Fo Tu, you must stay by my side at all times and not act on your own or do anything reckless..."
...
"Yes, yes, yes." Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.
His request was not excessive; he just wanted to infiltrate the Daotingsi and tag along.
As for the future, he would play it by ear...
Since he had already "exposed" his identity with the Daotingsi and reached a "mutually beneficial" agreement with Uncle Gu, Mo Hua didn't hold back and immediately asked:
"Uncle Gu, what exactly happened that night when the Xie family in Bishan City was wiped out?"
"How did Hu Fo Tu enter Bishan City?"
"Why didn't anyone from the Xie family escape?"
"Why was the Xie family targeted for extermination?"
"Where did Hu Fo Tu go after destroying the Xie family? Was he not found? Are there any clues?"
...
Mo Hua, the ever-curious boy, asked a series of questions, his mouth moving non-stop.
Gu Changhuai's head hurt just listening to him.
He knew this kid was going to be a big troublemaker.
But now that they were in this together, it was too late to back out.
Gu Changhuai released his spiritual sense to ensure no one was around, then took a sip of wine to moisten his throat. He frowned and said in a low voice:
"That day, after you reported the case, I personally led people to search for Hu Fo Tu..."
"But at the border between Lushan City and Bishan City, we only found traces of flames, with no sign of Hu Fo Tu and the others."
"I sent people to investigate everywhere, but it was as if Hu Fo Tu and his group had disappeared without a trace, as if someone had covered up their tracks..."
"And a few days later, the Xie family extermination case occurred..."
"The specifics of the case are still under investigation, so I can't be sure, but I can give you a general idea..."
"Someone tampered with the Xie family's array formation."
"The original array meant for external defense was altered into an internal trapping formation."
"Late that night, Hu Fo Tu suddenly appeared in the Xie family's residence and unleashed his art, summoning meteors of fire that killed many people and set the houses ablaze. The fire spread quickly and grew in intensity..."
"Then, dozens of ruthless criminal cultivators took advantage of the fire to launch a massacre on the Xie family cultivators..."
"The Xie family, caught off guard, hastily activated their array to counter the attack, but instead, they were trapped by their own formation, unable to escape, and ultimately perished in the sea of flames..."
"Hu Fo Tu's methods were extremely cruel."
"It seems the rumors are true, and Hu Fo Tu bears a deep grudge against the Xie family. It's not enough to just kill them; he has to disembowel and crush their bones to ashes..."
"Because of the array's isolation, those outside, including the Daotingsi officials and cultivators from Bishan City, couldn't get in, and those inside couldn't get out..."
"And so, right before the eyes of the Daotingsi and all the cultivators in Bishan City, Hu Fo Tu wiped out the entire Xie family."
As he spoke, Gu Changhuai's face betrayed his anger.
Mo Hua also sighed softly, his heart heavy at the tragic fate of the Xie family.
"Then what happened?" Mo Hua asked, puzzled, "If the array became a trapping formation, trapping the Xie family, shouldn't it have trapped Hu Fo Tu as well? If the Xie family had no way to escape, Hu Fo Tu shouldn't have been able to get away either..."
Gu Changhuai's expression turned solemn, "That's the problem..."
"After Hu Fo Tu annihilated the Xie family, he seemed to have 'vanished into thin air' within the trapping formation, leaving no trace in Bishan City."
"Not only Hu Fo Tu, but the dozens of criminal cultivators who aided him also disappeared without a trace."
Gu Changhuai's expression was cold and a little irritable.
Mo Hua thought for a moment before asking, "Uncle Gu, has the Daotingsi consulted someone to calculate the cause and effect of this incident?"
Gu Changhuai gave Mo Hua a curious look. "You know about cause and effect calculations?"
"A little," Mo Hua replied modestly.
Gu Changhuai didn't pay much attention to it and simply shook his head. "They did, but they couldn't calculate anything. They said that the traces were obscured..."
Then, with some displeasure, he added, "In my opinion, they're just making excuses for their incompetence..."
"Moreover, in this day and age, who still believes in destiny calculations and cause-and-effect predictions? They're nothing but gimmicks to confuse and deceive people..."
From this, Mo Hua realized that the Gu family probably didn't have a tradition of "destiny calculations."
In the world of destiny calculations and cause and effect, his family was considered "slow on the uptake."
Mo Hua didn't bother to explain. It would be too troublesome to explain the complexities of destiny and cause and effect.
He simply agreed, "Yes, yes."
Although Gu Changhuai didn't understand destiny calculations, his intuition was sharp.
He felt that Mo Hua's gaze carried a hint of sympathy, as if he were looking at a "slow-witted" person...
Noticing Gu Changhuai's slightly displeased expression, Mo Hua quickly changed the subject. "Uncle Gu, are there any other clues?"
Gu Changhuai was distracted by his question, momentarily forgetting that in Mo Hua's eyes, he was a "slow-witted" person...
"None. That's all the clues we have," Gu Changhuai said. "So, stop pestering me and go back to your sect to cultivate properly..."
Gu Changhuai wanted to get rid of Mo Hua, who was like a little anchor weighing him down.
Mo Hua said, "I have a clue!"
Gu Changhuai didn't believe him and snorted, "What clue could you possibly have?"
"If you don't believe me, then I won't say anything," Mo Hua said, lowering his head to focus on the chicken leg in his bowl.
This chicken leg seemed to be from a golden pheasant; it was large, tender, and tasted delicious.
Gu Changhuai's expression became complicated as he was given the silent treatment by Mo Hua.
To ask would be a loss of face.
But what if it really was an important clue? Although this kid tended to brag, he didn't seem to lie about crucial matters.
After a moment's thought, Gu Changhuai could only sigh in resignation.
The case of Hu Fo Tu took priority.
"Fine, I believe you. Go on..." Gu Changhuai said with a sigh.
Mo Hua didn't keep him in suspense and immediately said, "Hua Langjun!"
"Hua Langjun?" Gu Changhuai frowned.
"The perverted thief," Mo Hua explained. "The one I caught before I encountered Hu Fo Tu..."
"I heard Hu Fo Tu and his gang calling him 'Hua Liulang.' I assume they know each other, and Hua Langjun was probably in Lushan City to join Hu Fo Tu in the extermination of the Xie family..."
"But before that, due to his cultivation of the Flower Plucking Art, his perverse urges got the better of him, and he couldn't restrain his lustful fire. He didn't dare to act within Bishan City, as it would alert the Xie family, so he chose to prey on women in Lushan City, near Bishan City..."
Gu Changhuai frowned. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
Mo Hua replied matter-of-factly, "You didn't ask me about it earlier..."
Moreover, by the time he reported the case, Hua Langjun had already been captured and imprisoned in the Daoist prison, so he had essentially already "confessed."
Mo Hua subconsciously overlooked him.
Now that they were out of leads, Mo Hua had thought long and hard before recalling "Hua Langjun" from his memory...
Gu Changhuai nodded. "We must not delay. I'll go to Lushan City immediately."
"Isn't he in the Daoist prison within the boundaries of Qian Xuezhou?"
Gu Changhuai shook his head. "As long as the local case hasn't been closed, it's usually not transferred..."
Mo Hua thought for a moment and then said, "I want to go too!"
"No."
Gu Changhuai refused without hesitation.
"Alright then," Mo Hua said, not insisting. "If you don't understand something when you question him, you can always come back and ask me..."
Gu Changhuai frowned. "What does this have to do with you?"
"Because I was the one who caught Hua Langjun!"
Mo Hua emphasized this point once more.
Gu Changhuai was left with no choice. "Fine, you can come along."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes."
Then, Gu Changhuai informed Wen Renwan that he would be taking Mo Hua with him on an outing.
Wen Renwan was a little puzzled, unsure what business Gu Changhuai had that required him to bring Mo Hua along.
However, seeing Gu Changhuai's reluctant expression and Mo Hua's eager demeanor, she guessed that it wasn't a bad thing for Mo Hua, so she nodded and admonished them, "Be careful on the way."
"Take care of Mo Hua..."
Wen Renwan reminded him once more.
"Yes," Gu Changhuai sighed.
Afterward, Mo Hua accompanied Gu Changhuai in the Gu family's horse-drawn carriage, rushing through the night to Lushan City.
Upon arriving in Lushan City, they entered the Daotingsi.
With Gu Changhuai's official waist token, they encountered no obstacles and soon reached the underground Daoist prison.
However, when they found Hua Langjun, Gu Changhuai's expression turned cold, and Mo Hua's eyes narrowed.
Hua Langjun...
He lay in his cell, his aura extinguished.
He was already dead.
Dead without a sound.
Mo Hua raised his head to glance at the damp and gloomy Daoist prison, devoid of sunlight. He lowered his voice and whispered to Gu Changhuai, "Uncle Gu, do you think there might be an 'inside man' in the Daotingsi... I mean, our Daotingsi?"
Gu Changhuai's face turned icy, and he remained silent.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
